12:30PM European markets ended up led by tech stocks.
European markets ended in the positive territory, reflecting strength posted by tech shares and quarterly results released by Euronext and Corus. Technology shares like Alcatel, Ericsson, and Nokia led advancers. Alcatel rose 4% after Merrill Lynch said the company is its top pick in the European telecom-equipment sector, with the best risk-reward profile. Earnings were in focus, with stock-exchange operator Euronext up 3.1% on 63% profit jump, while steelmaker Corus Group lost 1.8% after it reported 52% profit drop in Q2. The German DAX 30 gained 0.4%, the French CAC 40, was 0.4%, while London FTSE 100 rose 0.7%.

Oil prices slipped below $69 on strong crude and gasoline inventories. Light crude October delivery fell 91 cents to $68.80 a barrel. Gasoline fell 3 cents to $1.76 a gallon, while heating oil lost 3 cents to $1.916. Natural gas dropped 28 cents to $6.60 per 1,000 cubic feet. London Brent October delivery slipped 38 cents to $69.48. The dollar traded mixed versus major currencies. The euro traded at $1.2821, down from $1.2822. The dollar bought 117.08 yen, up from 116.63. The British pound stood at $1.9048, up from $1.8979. European gold prices gained ground. In London the precious metal traded at $617.60, up from $609.50 per ounce. In Zurich gold traded at $618.18, up from $607.95. Silver closed at $12.44, up from $11.93.


11:30AM Stock markets advanced on GDP data and oil drop.
The major U.S. equity indices moved to the upside after showing a lack of direction in early trading. In late morning trading, health insurance stocks posted strength, helped by Health Net (HNT: chart), rising by 3.4%. Some defense, airline, and healthcare provider stocks also posted notable gains. Financial stocks rallied in late morning trading Wednesday on easing concerns about the housing market, interest rates and the economy. Broadly, the Amex Securities Broker/Dealer Index rose 0.8%. The Philadelphia Bank Index added 0.2% and the S&P Insurance Index rose 0.3%.

At the same time, energy stocks helped to limit the upside for the broader market amid a continued decrease by the price of oil. Among companies in focus, Cendant Corp. (CD: chart) rose 2.1% after the company approved the final stage of its reorganization plan, which includes changing its name to Avis Budget Group Inc. Costco Wholesale (COST: chart) dropped 4.2% after the warehouse retailer warned its Q4 and full-year results will miss expectations. In late morning trading, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 16.41, or 0.14%. The Standard & Poor''s 500 index picked up 0.56, or 0.04%, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 9.99, or 0.46%. Bonds continued their advance, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note at 4.77%, down from Tuesday''s 4.79%

Crude and gasoline inventories increased.
Crude oil inventories showed a surprising build in the most recent week, according to government statistics released Wednesday. This halted a recent streak of declines. Meanwhile, gasoline stockpiles also edged higher. The Department of Energy''s Energy Information Administration said that crude oil inventories rose 2.4 million barrels in the week ended August 25. Specifically, the measure climbed to 332.8 million barrels from the previous week''s level of 330.4 million barrels. This broke a recent streak of declines that included a fall of 600,000 barrels in the previous week. Oil inventories for the August 25 week were 6.2% higher than last year. Meanwhile, gasoline inventories showed a week-over-week increase 400,000 barrels. This matched the advance posted in the previous week. The level of gasoline inventories was 4.6% above last year. Distillate fuel oil had an inventory increase of 1.3 million barrels for the week. This repeated the advance of 1.3 million barrels reported in the previous week.


10:30AM Large-caps late-hour rally helps India end in positive territory.
The Sensex on BSE gained 17.07 points, or 0.15%, to close at 11,723.92. The Sensex traded in a range of 113 points, with a high degree of volatility, which is expected till futures and options contract expiration on Thursday.

The market-breadth was positive in early trading, but turned negative as selling pressure hit small-cap and mid-cap stocks. Sensex average managed to recover in afternoon trading, with 1,064 shares advancing, 1,461 declining and 72 were unchanged. The turnover on BSE was Rs 2,607 crore, down from Tuesday’s Rs 2,715 crore. Of the thirty stocks in the Sensex index 17 declined while 13 advanced.

Ranbaxy Laboratories led the advancers, climbing 2.40% to Rs 405, after the company got a favorable ruling from a Norwegian court involving two patents on Atorvastatin. Index large-cap Reliance Industries advanced 1.11% to Rs 1,129.15. Reliance Industries was the most-active stock on BSE with a turnover of Rs 135.74 crore followed by Tata Steel with Rs 76.67 crore and Tech Mahindra with Rs 64.61 crore.

Other stocks that advanced included ITC gaining 1.85% to Rs 188, Grasim rising 1.62% to Rs 2,260 and SBI adding 1.20% to Rs 932.15. Refinery stocks also advanced on renewed buying as crude oil price sank below $70 a barrel, its lowest in more than two-months. HPCL gained 4.30%, to Rs 283, BPCL jumped 5.86% to Rs 373.25, Indian Oil Corporation ended up 1.66% to Rs 493.50, IBP inched up 1.10% to Rs 486.50, Chennai Petroleum advanced 1.4% to Rs 201 and Kochi Refineries surged 6.05% to Rs 163.

Reliance Energy led the decliners plunging 2.40% to Rs 437.45, Bajaj Auto lost 1.20% to Rs 2685 and NTPC shed 1.92% to Rs 125. Reliance Communications declined 1%, to Rs 306.

Metal stocks experienced pressure today in the wake of reports that steel prices may be reduced by Rs 750 to Rs 1,000 per tonne, from 1 September 2006, to match global metal prices. Tata Steel sank 2.20% to Rs 515.65, SAIL was off 2.80% to Rs 75.10, Essar Steel declined 3.43% to Rs 36.60, Tata Sponge lost 1.93% to Rs 111.50, Hindustan Zinc plunged 4.23% to Rs 577.20, Sterlite Industries slid 3.60% to Rs 421 and Hindalco shed 1.37% to Rs 173.10.

Jay Bharat Maruti surged 10.83% to Rs 110.50 on hopes that it will soon announce a record date for bonus issue. United Phosphorus jumped 3.67% to Rs 240 on purchase of crop protection products from Bayer CropScience AG, Germany. Infotech Enterprises gained 1% to Rs 212 following its wholly-owned subsidiary, Infotech Enterprises America, signing of an agreement with IBM to jointly provide services to assist clients across the globe.


09:45AM Upbeat GDP data boosted indexes.
An upward revision to second-quarter GDP boosted market indexes at opening. The Commerce Department reported that gross domestic product rose 2.9%, higher than the original estimate of 2.5%, but below economists'' expectations of an increase by 3%. U.S. stocks also gained on comments from Federal Reserve official Richard Fisher which soothed concerns about inflation. However, within the first hour of trading stock markets turned mixed.

Utility stocks contributed to the early slide. PSEG (PEG: chart) dropped more than 4% on news that its merger with Exelon was now likely not to be completed. Transportation stocks also showed weakness in the early going, with low-cost air carrier JetBlue (JBLU: chart) down more than 2.5% following an analyst downgrade. Trucking stocks also fell, including a nearly 2% slide in JB Hunt (JBHT: chart).

However, gold and HMO stocks showed modest gains. The insurance sector also advanced. In the first hour of trading, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 5.60, or 0.05%. The Standard & Poor''s 500 index dropped 0.86, or 0.07%, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 2.33, or 0.11 percent, to 2,169.97. Bonds continued their advance after continued economic news, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note at 4.77% from Tuesday''s 4.79%.


Bombardier Inc, ((CA:BBDA)), aerospace firm, reported that Q2 net income dropped due to year-earlier profit from discontinued operations. Net profit came to 3 cents a share, against 6 cents in the year-earlier period. The year-ago figure reflected $107 million from discontinued operations. Q2 earnings from continuing operations before special items were 3 cents versus 2 cents. Revenue fell 3.2% to $3.52 billion.